A Wonderful Friday Night at Nats' Park, Part I

Part of the ceremonies for Hero's Day at Nats' Park

What a great night for a ball game. We had fantastic seats. I think this is the closest I've ever been to the field. It felt like you could reach out and touch the players and that's because you could.

The Nationals continue on their hot streak. They've won 24 for their last 33 games and season high seven straight. It was not a typical win. Stephen Strasburg was supposed to have pitched but he was scratched. In his place was Ross Ohlendorf. He got into some jams in several of the innings he pitched but was always able to get out of them.

The game had some strange plays. As the Post put it:

After the Nationals scratched Stephen Strasburg, Ohlendorf allowed one run in five innings and three Nationals relievers finished off a 6-1 victory at Nationals Park. Wilson Ramos and Ryan Zimmerman both continued power surges with solo homers — the Nationals played baseball, and therefore Zimmerman hit a home run. Ian Desmond knocked in two runs with two infield singles. Two more runs scored on a slapstick single that bounced 20 feet in the air off reliever Luis Garcia’s left heel and landed next to the mound.

A little more on Ross Ohlendorf who got called on to pitch:

“He’s really done an unbelievable job,” Desmond said. “He’s been a horse out of the bullpen. He’s done some things that not many other guys would do. He’s good at what he does, and we respect that. So it’s not a surprise to any of us in here.”

I've seen Ohlendorf a couple of times and have been impressed with what he's done.

Ross Ohlendorf on the mound.

 Wilson Ramos and Ryan Zimmerman had solo home runs. And then there was the crazy fifth inning:

After Ohlendorf exited, their offense poured on more runs. Harper singled to load the bases with one out in the fifth. Desmond drilled a ball directly off the plate, and by the time it landed in third baseman Cody Asche’s glove there was nothing he could do with it.

After Adam LaRoche struck out, Ramos smoked a 3-2 fastball up the middle. Garcia stuck out his heel, and the ball shot into the air. Garcia looked up, left and right but never located the ball until it plopped behind him. He scampered to pick it up but tripped over second baseman Chase Utley. As the circus unfolded, Harper raced home from second base and gave the Nationals a five-run lead.

And that's all that was needed for a wonderful win and wonderful night at the park. One more quick thing in the sixth inning Denard Span got a hit so he's hit in 24 straight games.

Harper on base in the 5th inning

Celebrating the curly W!